"How is she doing?" Jess asked.
"Well, she's ok...for now." Gerry said. "But this toxic alteration just doesn't make sense..."
"Dad..." Jess said.
"...maybe some of the dinosaurs are eating poisonous plants..." Gerry wondered.
"...Dad..." Jess repeated.
Jess slowed down.
"Jess? why are we stopping?" Gerry asked.
In front of them, in the middle of the road, a young Triceratops was busily eating a branch from a plant.
"She's beautiful." Jess said, breathlessly. ""She" right?"
"Right." Gerry said. "Well, we're lucky that this young one's by herself. Wouldn't want to meet the alpha out here. Lady Margaret, she's uh...pretty protective. We've discovered that family groups emerge even without the usual genetic relationships. Young Triceratops join the family the moment they-"
"Dad...you're ruining it." Jess said.
"Right...sorry." Gerry said. "This little one's name is Bakhita. What is she doing way out here?"
Gerry stepped out of the Magnette.
"I've gotta get this critter back in her enclosure." Gerry said to Jess. "I'll just be a sec, wait here."
"...Yeah..." Jess said. "Oh, that is cool..."
Gerry slowly approached Bakhita as to not startle her.
"Easy, girl..." Gerry said. "Musa acuminata, huh? You really love this stuff, don't ya..."
Gerry went behind Bakhita, pushing against her flanks, attempting to entice her to move.
"Come on, girl, get moving." Gerry said. But Bakhita did not budge. Gerry went to the branch and tried to pull it away from her. However, Bakhita clamped down on the branch, refusing to let it be taken away from her.
"Come on, girl, let go, come on." Gerry said. "This is a road, not a restaurant."
Gerry walked over to the open paddock gate and tried pushing it. It did not budge.
"What's wrong with the gate?" Jess asked.
"It's locked in the open position." Gerry said. "There should be a manual release in the shed, but-"
Gerry turned around. Jess was standing by Bakhita.
"Didn't I say to wait in the car?"
"It's not big deal." Jess said, patting Bakhita. "See? We're all right, we're fine. Right?"
"She's pretty cute, huh." Gerry said.
"She's warm!" Jess said. "I didn't think that she'd be so warm."
Suddenly, Bakhita growled. Jess stepped back, nervously.
"She's ok, she's all right." Gerry said, "She's just getting to know you. Right, Bakhita?"
Bakhita growled again, continuing to eat the banana leaf branch.
"Ok..." Jess said nervously.
"Look," Gerry said, "I need to get this girl out of the way. Now that you've met her, would you please go back to the car?"
"Are you kidding me?" Jess said.
"New faces make her nervous." Gerry explained. "She'll be a lot easier to manage if you're in the car."
"Oh...all right." Jess said, walking back to the Magnette.
"Ok, I need to get you out of the way.." Gerry said. "...and I need to unlock the gate from the maintenance shed."
Gerry looked at the enclosure that Bakhita walked out from.
"There's plenty to eat in your paddock, girl. Come on, that's where you belong." Gerry said.
Gerry looked at the warning lights atop the fence.
"More broken lights, or there's no power going to the fence." Gerry said. "That can't be good."
Gerry looked at a road sign indicating the Visitor's Center was down the road.
"Well, at least we're still on the right track." Gerry thought.
Jess meanwhile, checked the glove box, looking for anything useful. Inside was a key.
"Boring." Jess said, shutting the glovebox.
Gerry walked over to the maintenance shed.
"What's in there?" Jess asked.
"Apart from the release lever for the gate, just maintenance stuff" Gerry said. "Uh, spools of cable for fence repairs...work boots...snow shovels..."
"Snow shovels?" Jess asked. "What for?"
"Well, it's not for shoveling snow." Gerry said.
"Oh...eew." Jess said.
Gerry attempted to open the door to the maintenance, but found it was locked.
"Should be a key for this in the car." Gerry thought. "Jessi, look in the glove box for me. There should be a key in there to the shed."
"Ok, just a second." Jess said. Jess opened the glove box and took out the key, giving it to her father.
Gerry unlocked the shed and walked inside. Gerry walked up to a panel with a lever that had a red handle. He pulled it down.
"That oughta do it!" Gerry said. "Now to get Bakhita away from her snack."
Gerry walked out to Jess.
"Hey honey, how's our patient doing?" He asked.
"I don't know...okay, I guess." Jess said.
"How's her breathing?"
Jess looked at Nima. She was asleep.
"...los ojos...me siguen..." Nima mumbled.
"Ok, I guess...she's kinda...snoring...in Spanish." Jess said.
Gerry walked back to the Magnette. He needed to get Bakhita in her enclosure as soon as possible.
"Jess, just try the lights or the horn or something." Gerry said. "Anything to get her attention."
"Okay." Jess said. She honked the horn.
Bakhita snarled, irritated from the noise and looked at Jess.
Jess then flicked the headlights off and on. Bakhita shut her eyes, guarding herself against the bright light and backed away.
"Alright! You got her away from the branch." Gerry said.
Gerry picked up the large branch and carried it towards the Triceratops paddock. He tossed the branch inside. Bakhita walked inside and continued gnawing on the branch.
"There you go!" Gerry said. "Back where you belong."
Gerry walked back over to the gate and began pushing it shut. Bakhita began to walk back out of the paddock.
"Uh uh! Now you don't, get back in there." Gerry scolded. "Jess..."
"I'm on it!" She said.
Jess began honking on the horn again. Startled by the noise, Bakhita whined and ran back into the paddock.
However, unaware to Jess, Gerry spotted Lady Margaret off in the distance.
"Oh no." He said, "The alpha. Jess! Shut off the horn!"